My friend group is at an age range where our aging parents are needing us more. I met a few friends through church whose moms truly dedicated themselves to the Lord’s work in humility, love and service since they were young mothers. It doesn’t matter if they are poor in wealth or health, I witness that these mothers are a tremendous blessing to their children and grandchildren even into their old ages. Even if they have to rely upon their children and grandchildren more than ever, they are not regarded as “burdens” to the family but everyone even non-family members are clamoring to help them! On the flip side, I also see my friends in the church community whose parents attended church but were not truly followers of Jesus Christ. They are very needy and difficult as they get older just like everyone else. I desire to be in the small group of elderly parents who are a great blessing into their 80s, if the Lord wants me to live longer. My musing of the week let me to write this for my prayer group ladies.

Hello ladies! Growing up in the USA (I came here when I was 8) I didn’t really get to know my grandparents other than the stories that my mom would share about them. Like many immigrant children, we missed out on the wisdom and guidance that may have been passed down from our grandparents. But don’t feel bad if this was also your case, because I found very good, godly, grand-fatherly teachers. Dr. Billy Graham’s messages are all excellent. If you read his autobiography “Just As I Am” then he will also share with you about handling delicate personal and political issues and even ruthless, powerful world leaders if you want to reach that platform.

Dr. Charles Stanley is another grandfatherly teacher that I love. He teaches you about living life for Jesus, and how to make good, godly decisions. I especially liked his latest two messages about “Understanding Your Call” because my bible study group was just discussing Matthew 8 where Jesus taught about the cost of following him. Dr Charles Stanley does a wonderful job on what Jesus meant by this with cultural context of that time period. You can subscribe to his podcast for free to listen to all his messages or you can subscribe to his ministry website for newsletters. (Wikipedia page says he’s 90. Wow he sounds so strong for his age!)

https://www.intouch.org/listen/radio/understanding-your-call-part-1

Corrie ten Boom was a godly, grandmotherly and a tough woman of God that you can learn a lot from. She went through tremendous amounts of suffering growing up during WWII when the Nazis took over her country of Denmark. Her family was Danish and would have been safe during the Nazi occupation but because they helped and rescued the Jewish people, eventually her entire family was taken to the concentration camps. She was the only survivor of her family.

Her quote came up in my mind recently when I had a hard time falling asleep.  (I was worried about someone and although so many prayers were lifted up, it was still hard to let go of my worries to fall asleep.)

“If you look at the world, you will be distressed.

If you look at yourself, you will be depressed.

If you look at God, you will be at rest.” 

I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that I can put ‘whatever or whoever’ in the ‘world’.  Keeping my eyes on ‘whatever or whoever’ is only going to get me distressed.  So, I prayed to God, “Please help me to keep my eyes on You!”  I don’t know how but I fell asleep after this prayer, and the next time I woke up it was early morning for my quiet time.  🙂

If you ever have trouble falling asleep due to anxieties and worries, try this simple prayer.  And if it still doesn’t work then get up and read your bible; the book of Psalms or Proverbs are nice and low key, or a good Christian devotional or theological book are good too. 

Speaking about Bible and theology, I saw that the Evidence Bible is on sale for $30. Even if you believe every word in the Bible is the inspired word of God, it is good to understand how to defend your beliefs and faith since majority don’t understand your faith. Evidence Bible will help you. I don’t have one yet but I am thinking about getting this now at such a great price. https://livingwaters.com/store/books/bibles/evidence-bible-hardcover/

I discovered this as I was looking in their store. This pdf download is about how to battle depression and suicidal thoughts from the same ministry. I’m curious to read how they address this sensitive topic and read their insights. It’s free too! https://livingwaters.com/store/downloads/pdf/how-to-battle-depression-and-suicidal-thoughts-pdf/

Please remember to pray extra for your Christian leadership in both church and secular places in the month of October. It’s a very difficult month due to Halloween. Please pray for me and my family too. I really appreciate your extra prayers for me and my family…ten more days to go. Thank you so much. In case you have questions about Halloween – got questions ministry has nice, concise information for any questions that you have. I use it all the time for quick FYIs. Here is a link about Halloween – https://www.gotquestions.org/Halloween.html

God bless you abundantly! Happy studying! With love and prayers from your librarian.